Oil-burning system.



L. 1). LOVEKIN.

OIL BURNING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1, 1911.

1,094,078. 1 Patented Apr. 21, 19m

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

D. L'BVEKIN. OIL BURNING SYSTEM.

AEPLIGATION FILED APR. 1, 1911.

Patente l 13112}, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Elli

ioiarrnn era'rns PATENT OFFICE.

LUTHER D. LOVEKIN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO SCHUTTE i AND KOERTING COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COBPORATlON 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

err-BURNI G sYs'rnivr.

specification of Letters Patent. l Patentied Apr. 21, 19] 4.

Application filed April 1, 1911. -=Serial.No. 618,411.

To of] whom it may con ur/1.:

Be it known that l, lm'riiicn a. citizen of the United States 01 America,

residin in Philadel )llltl, countv oi. Philadelphia, and State or .lennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Burning Systems, of which the'following is a'trueaud exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My present invention relates to oil burning apparatus and pz'irtieularly to oil burning apparatus of the kind in which the oil, substantially i1'eeil 'riun any admixture with steam or air, issues in the form of sprays or jets train the burner nozzles to which it supplied under high pressure lVith apparatus o't this type as heretofore constructed it has been found possibleto obtain high cllioiency, but the. best results have, in practice been obtained only when the apparatus wasvery carefully designed and received constant and careful attention and adjustment. This has been due, I believe, to the elmracter of appz'iratus heretoifore employed to supply the oil to the burners.

. The object of my present invention is to provide apparatus for the purpose specified which is inherdntly simpler and more etle ctive and reliable and adapted to give better average ctlicieney and to require less care and attention than that heretofore employed. This I accomplish in large measure by using centrifugal pumps in place of the reciproeating pumps heretofore used for forcing the oil into the burner nozzles. The advantages obtained by this change in the pumping mechanism are due, I believe,,to certain inherent but more or less obscure conditions not heretofore fully understood. or appreciated, but which may be explained as follows: To obtain ctlicient and satisfactory operation it is essential that tllu air for supporting the combustion of the oil sprayed from the burner nozzles be continuously supplied'in amount exactlyjregulated to the amount of oil issuingfrom the burner nozzles at any instant, and it is essential in practice also that the sprays or jets of oil issuing from the burner nozzles do not fluo tuate. When the rate at which the oil is sprayed from each burner nozzle does not vary, it is a con'iparatively simple matter to properly regulate the supply of the air supl). LOYEKIN,

porting COlllbllSiLlP/Ihlflli. fluctuations in the pressure of the 011 supplied to the burner nozzles, and consequently in the rate at whlch "the oil is sprayed therefrom, not only directly interferes with the operation of the apparatus by producing variations in the amountof oil consumed and irregularities and disturbanccsin combustion, but also disturbs the instantaneous ratio between the amount of oil being burned and the amount of a1r supplied for its combustion. In con- .sequence ot these and other considerations,

pulsations in the pressure at which the oil is supplied to the burner nozzles produces miniature explosions and flarebacks which reduce the etliciency of the apparatus and makes the operation of the apparatus hazardous and arduous. Y 5

He: etotore the oil has been supplied to the burner nozzles, at the high pressure required for what known as mechanical atomiza tion by reciprocating oil pumps. The intermittent manner in which reciprocating pumps discharge the fluid pumped by them lends to produce substantial fluctuations in {the pressure in the conduit connections between tl pumps and burner nonzles. In order to equalize the pressure in the oil supply connections between the pump and the burners it has heretofore been the practice to employ air chambers. I have found, how ever, that centrifugal pumps give more uniform pressure conditions in the oil connections running to the burners than it is possi ble to obtain with reciprocating pumps, and any arrangement or" air reservoirs which it is feasible to employ under most conditions and particulin-ly on warships where oil burning apparatus is of peculiar utility and where cfliciency, reliability and space economy are all prime requisites.

The, use of air reservoirs is objectionable, not only because of the space occupied by the reservoirs themselves, but also because itis necessary to provide space occupying and energy consuming means for constantly replenishing them with air. Under the pressure at which the oil issupplied to the burner nozzles, the oil possesses at ca acity' for absorbing or dissolving substrntial amounts of air, especially, since for sati'sfae tory results the oil must be highly heated be fore being sup lied to the burners. This absorption of t 6 air by the oil, "occurring when airchambers are used is'ohjeetionable,

not only because of the consequent necessity for continuously replenishing the air chambers but also, the variable mixture of air and oil in the pressure supply system, is in itself undesirable. For one thing there is always a possibility though a remote one of the formation of an explosive mixture in the conduit system under some conditions occasionally experienced.

In the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter I have illustrated and described a preferred form of oil burning apparatus embodying the present invention.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a boiler furnace and apparatus for feeding oil to the burners thereof. Fig. 2 is a partial sectional elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Fig. 4 a side elevation of a turbine driven centrifugal pump employed inthe apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the oil burning system.

In the drawings, A, represents a water tube boiler furnace of conventional type.

B is an oil burner nozzle and B a register regulating the admission of air to the interior of the boiler furnace through ports surrounding the burner nozzle. Each burner nozzle is supplied with oil through its individual pipe 0 from the main C, the latter is connected at its supply end to two filter chambers D, D. The latter are supplied with oil through the pipe C from the outlet of the two oil heaters E, E. The oil is passed directly to the oil heaters E, E, through the pipe C from the discharge pipe of two centrifugal pumps F, each driven by a suitable motor, which, as shown, is a steam tubine FA. The suction or inlet passages of the pumps F are connected through the pipe 0 to the preliminary filters G, G, and the latter in turn are connected by the pipe C to the oil reservoir H.

0, represents a steam supply pipe having branches 0 running to the oil heaters E, E, the turbines FA, FA, and heating coils 0 arranged withinthe oil reservoir H. I, represents drain pipe connection for the water of condensation formed in the heaters E, E, and coil 0 and Q, represents'a trap for discharging the water of condensation. 'P, represents a return line or bypass through which a circulation may be advantageously had at times when the plant is being started up.

It will be understood that in the system shown, the pumps, filters and heaters are provided in duplicate to increase the reliability of the apparatus, since this permits parts to be cut out one at a time When neces- .duit connection between the pump sary for cleaning or repairs. This duplication while desirable is not strictly essential. Those skilled in the art will understand that the apparatus disclosed, while of a dcsirable and preferred form is illustrative merely. The gist of the invention consists not in the particular form or arrangement of apparatus disclosed, but primarily in the use of a centrifugal pump for forcing the oil under pressure into the burner nozzles, and secondarily in the employment of :1V conand the burners which is entirely filled with oil in normal operation, and which I may describe as non-elastic to distinguish it from conduit connections including air chambers in which the confined air forms an elastic wall portion of the connecting conduit system. For the full utilization of the benefits of the invention I find it desirable also to provide means, which may advantageously be of the form shown, for preliminarily heating the oil passing to the pump or pumps and for then further heating the oil in its passage from the pump or pumps to the burners. By proceeding in this manner I am able to readily give the oil the high temperature desirable without subjecting the pump to unduly high temperatures. In practice the pressure at which the oil is forced into the burner nozzles is practically never below sixty pounds and ordinarily ranges between 100 and 250 pounds per square inch and the temperature. of the oil is preferably between 200 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Having now described mv invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an oil burning system the combination with the burner nozzles of means for supplying them with heated oil under atomizing pressure, comprising a centrifugal pump and a closed conduit system connecting said pump to said burner nozzles and entirely filled with oil in normal operation.

2. In an oil burning system the combination with the burner nozzles or". means for supplying them with heated oil under atomizing pressure, comprising a centrifugal pump and a closed conduit systen'i connecting said pump to said burner nozzles, and including heating provisions for the oil passing from the pump to the nozzles through said system and entirely filled with oil in normal operation.

LUTHER D. LOVEKIN.

Witnesses ARNOLD Ka'rz, D. STEWART. 

